YouTube Ad Skipper Chrome Extension

A Chrome extension that automatically skips YouTube ads for a seamless viewing experience.

Changelog

• 2025-11-04 — Added Dark Mode (popup theme selector: System / Light / Dark). Theme is persisted via chrome.storage.sync and defaults to system. Popup styles for light/dark were added and the background service worker initializes the theme setting. (Implemented by Valent-p)

Features

• ✅ Automatically skips skippable ads
• ✅ Detects and handles overlay ads
• ✅ Mutes non-skippable ads when possible
• ✅ Works with dynamically loaded content
• ✅ Lightweight and fast

Custom Skip Rules (@Valent-p)

• 🎯 Selective Ad Skipping

  • Toggle video ad skipping
  • Toggle overlay ad skipping
  • Customize wait time before skipping (0-10 seconds)

• 🎮 Channel Management

  • Whitelist your favorite content creators
  • Support creators by allowing their ads
  • Easy channel management through popup interface

• ⚙️ Flexible Configuration

  • All settings sync across devices
  • Settings persist between sessions
  • Real-time configuration updates

Installation

Method 1: Load Unpacked Extension (Development)

1. Open Chrome and navigate to chrome://extensions/
2. Enable "Developer mode" (toggle in top right)
3. Click "Load unpacked"
4. Select the folder containing this extension
5. The extension is now installed!

Method 2: Package Extension (For Distribution)

1. Open Chrome and navigate to chrome://extensions/
2. Enable "Developer mode"
3. Click "Pack extension"
4. Select the extension directory
5. A .crx file will be created

How It Works

The extension uses a content script that:

• Monitors the YouTube page for ad elements
• Detects skip buttons and automatically clicks them
• Uses a MutationObserver to catch dynamically loaded ads
• Periodically checks for ads every 500ms
• Handles YouTube's single-page application navigation

File Structure

YoutubeAdSkipper/
├── manifest.json       # Extension configuration
├── content.js          # Main ad-skipping logic
├── background.js       # Service worker
├── popup.html          # Extension popup UI
├── popup.js            # Popup script
├── icons/              # Extension icons (you need to add these)
│   ├── icon16.png
│   ├── icon48.png
│   └── icon128.png
└── README.md           # This file

Icons

You need to create icon files for the extension:

• icons/icon16.png (16x16 pixels)
• icons/icon48.png (48x48 pixels)
• icons/icon128.png (128x128 pixels)

You can create simple icons or use online icon generators.

YouTube Ad Skipper Chrome Extension

A Chrome extension that automatically skips YouTube ads for a seamless viewing experience.

Features

• ✅ Automatically skips skippable ads
• ✅ Detects and handles overlay ads
• ✅ Mutes non-skippable ads when possible
• ✅ Works with dynamically loaded content
• ✅ Lightweight and fast

Custom Skip Rules (@Valent-p)

• 🎯 Selective Ad Skipping

  • Toggle video ad skipping
  • Toggle overlay ad skipping
  • Customize wait time before skipping (0-10 seconds)

• 🎮 Channel Management

  • Whitelist your favorite content creators
  • Support creators by allowing their ads
  • Easy channel management through popup interface

• ⚙️ Flexible Configuration

  • All settings sync across devices
  • Settings persist between sessions
  • Real-time configuration updates

Dark Mode

• 🌙 Theme options: System / Light / Dark
• Choose a theme from the popup; selection is persisted and syncs across devices
• "System" follows the OS color-scheme while the popup is open

Installation

Method 1: Load Unpacked Extension (Development)

1. Open Chrome and navigate to chrome://extensions/
2. Enable "Developer mode" (toggle in top right)
3. Click "Load unpacked"
4. Select the folder containing this extension
5. The extension is now installed!

Method 2: Package Extension (For Distribution)

1. Open Chrome and navigate to chrome://extensions/
2. Enable "Developer mode"
3. Click "Pack extension"
4. Select the extension directory
5. A .crx file will be created

How It Works

The extension uses a content script that:

• Monitors the YouTube page for ad elements
• Detects skip buttons and automatically clicks them
• Uses a MutationObserver to catch dynamically loaded ads
• Periodically checks for ads every 500ms
• Handles YouTube's single-page application navigation

File Structure

YoutubeAdSkipper/
├── manifest.json       # Extension configuration
├── content.js          # Main ad-skipping logic
├── background.js       # Service worker
├── popup.html          # Extension popup UI
├── popup.js            # Popup script
├── icons/              # Extension icons (you need to add these)
│   ├── icon16.png
│   ├── icon48.png
│   └── icon128.png
└── README.md           # This file

Icons

You need to create icon files for the extension:

• icons/icon16.png (16x16 pixels)
• icons/icon48.png (48x48 pixels)
• icons/icon128.png (128x128 pixels)

You can create simple icons or use online icon generators.

Permissions

The extension requires:

• activeTab: To interact with YouTube tabs
• scripting: To inject content scripts
• host_permissions: Access to youtube.com

Troubleshooting

If ads aren't being skipped:

1. Make sure you're on a YouTube page
2. Refresh the page
3. Check the browser console for any errors
4. Ensure the extension is enabled in chrome://extensions/

Privacy

This extension:

• Only runs on YouTube pages
• Does not collect any personal data
• Does not send data to external servers
• All code is local and open source

License

This project is open source and available for personal use.

Contributing

Feel free to submit issues or pull requests to improve the extension!

Contributors

• Valent-p - Owner and maintainer
  • Initial extension development
  • Custom skip rules implementation
  • Channel whitelist feature
  • Dark mode implementation